UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Before The
POSTAL RATE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20268-0001
Postal Rate and Fee Changes,
2001
Docket No. R2001-1
)
OFFICE OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE
INTERROGATORIES
TO UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
(OCA/USPS-58-63)
October 11. 2001
Pursuant
Commission,
requests
to Rules 25 through
the Office of the Consumer
for production
OCAkJSPS-l-21
28 of the Rules of Practice
of documents.
dated September
Advocate
hereby submits interrogatories
Instructions
and
included with OCA interrogatories
28, 2001, are hereby incorporated
dlRe,4.&*
SHELLEY S. DREIFUSS
Acting Director
Office of the Consumer Advocate
1333 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20268-0001
(202) 789-6830; Fax (202) 789-6819
of the Postal Rate
by reference.
’
.
-2-
Docket No. R2001-1
OCAIUSPS-58.
In July 1980, the Postal Service prepared the “Nonhousehold
Mailstream
Has the Postal Service updated this study?
Study.”
copy of the updated study.
If so, please provide a
If not, please explain why an updated study has not been
conducted.
OCA/USPS-59.
Please provide the following
importing into an EXCEL spreadsheet.
data in a format that is amenable
to
For each FY 2000 and FY 2001 quarter and for
each Postal Service area, please provide the actual on-time delivery record by weight
increment for Priority Mail.
OCA/USPS-60.
Consumer
(4
The following refers to an article, “Special delivery?”
Reports, December
Since December
published
1998. A copy of the article follows as Attachment
in
1.
1998, has the Postal Service performed any analyses, studies,
reports or prepared any articles regarding the comparison
of USPS Express Mail,
Priority Mail and Parcel Post offerings with similar services offered by Federal
Express and United Parcel Service?
If so, please provide a copy of each. If not,
please explain why the Postal Service has performed
(b)
The Consumer
Report article indicates that the FedEx sued the Postal Service
for “false advertising.”
(4
no comparisons.
Please indicate the outcome of the lawsuit.
Were/are the legal costs of defending the Postal Service’s Priority Mail
advertisements
charged to Priority Mail? If so, please identify the account
number charged and the segments and components
impacted.
identify where the labor and any other costs associated
If not, please
with the Priority Mail
-3-
Docket No. R2001-1
advertisement
defense were/are
expensed
and explain why the costs were/are
not charged to Priority Mail.
(d)
Are the legal costs of defending
a given class of mail, (e.g., Express Mail and
Priority Mail) expensed to the applicable
class of mail? If not, please explain why
they are not expensed to the class incurring the cost.
(6
For FY 2000 and FY 2001, please provide the following information
amenable
to importing into an EXCEL spreadsheet:
in a format
(1) the number and nature of
the complaint lodged with the Postal Service regarding the accuracy or
truthfulness
of Priority Mail advertisements;
and, (2) the number and nature of
the complaint lodged with the Postal Service regarding the accuracy or
truthfulness
(0
of Express Mail advertisements.
In the attached article, Consumer
Reports found that only about 65 percent of
Express Mail overnight packages
arrived on time (page 1 of the Attachment).
Please provide the on-time percentage
of Express Mail overnight pieces of all
types for FY 1999. Please state the source for the answer and provide a copy of
the source material if it is not already on file with the Commission.
(9)
Also provide the on-time percentage
of Express Mail Second-Day
pieces of all
types for FY 1999. Please state the source for the answer and provide a copy of
the source material if it is not already on file with the Commission.
(h)
According
guarantees
to a chart appearing
at page 5 of the Attachment,
the Postal Service
overnight delivery to “some 130 major markets only.” Please list all
of the major markets for which the Postal Service provides Express Mail
Overnight service.
-4-
Docket No. R2001-1
(9
Please list all remaining
Express Mail Second-Day
Please
OCAIUSPS-61.
“First-class
Single-Piece
Increments.”
major markets for which the Postal Service offers
service.
refer to USPS-LR-J-58,
Test
Year
For ounce increments
Unit
pages
Costs
14 and 15 of 33, entitled
by Detailed
(l/2
ounce)
Weight
4 to 5, 5 to 6,6 to 7.7 to 8, 8 to 9, 9 to IO,10 to 11,
11 to 12, and 12 to 13+, please describe
and give examples
of letter-shaped
pieces in
each ounce increment.
OCANSPS-62.
Please refer to the testimony
T-39) at page 11, lines 14-17, concerning
of witness Linda A. Kingsley (USPS-
the percent of letter-shaped
mail having 9-
and 1 l-digit barcodes.
a.
Please show the total volume
letter-shaped
b.
mail comprised
Please show all calculations
letter-shaped
barcodes,
of letter-shaped
mail, of which 9- and II-digit
91 .I percent in AP 12, FY 01.
used to derive the 91.1 percent of 9- and II-digit
mail, the 72 percent
of letter-shaped
and the 28 percent of letter-shaped
mail with mailer
applied
mail with Postal Service applied
barcodes.
C.
Please provide the comparable
percentages
referred to in part b. for FY 1999, FY
2000, FY 2001, and AP 13, FY 01. Please show all calculations.
d.
Of the 8.9 percent of letter-shaped
percent
is First-Class
single-piece,
mail without barcodes
First-Class
presort,
in AP 12, FY 01, what
and Standard
Mail?
Please show all calculations.
e.
Please provide the comparable
percentages
referred to in part d. for FY 1999, FY
2000, FY 2001, and AP 13, FY 01. Please show all calculations.
Docket No. R2001-1
-5.
OCAAJSPS-63.
Please refer to the testimony
of witness Linda A. Kingsley (USPS-
T-39) at pages 9 and 10, lines 17-30, and lines 1-9, respectively.
a.
Please
confirm
that every letter-shaped
subject to the proposed
piece that is manually
nonmachinable
surcharge.
processed
is
If you do not confirm, please
explain.
b.
Please identify every operation
Primary,
Carrier Delivery, etc.) where
the letter-shaped
separation
C.
Please
mailstream
provide
Carrier Delivery,
letter-shaped
mailstream
Please explain
for manual
processing
(e.g., Entry Activities; Outgoing
etc.) where
mailstream
from
how the
pieces
at every
for
letter-shaped
manual
RBCS; Outgoing
pieces separated
determined
nonmachinable
surcharge.
Please
provide the base year and test year volume for letter-shaped
pieces
and subject to the proposed
explain how the determination
separated
from
determined
to be nonmachinable
the
when
letter-shaped
entered
to
be
is to be made.
mailstream
at every operation
Please confirm that every letter-shaped
affixed
processing
from the
are
nonmachinable
been
pieces are separated
identified in part b.
Primary,
f.
RBCS; Outgoing
the base year and test year volume for letter-shaped
Please identify every operation
Please
letter-shaped
for manual processing.
from the letter-shaped
operation
e.
Outgoing
is made.
separated
d.
(e.g., Entry Activities;
with
the
for
manual
processing
identified in part d.
piece for which machinable
Postal
and
Service,
but
postage has
is subsequently
Docket No. R2001-1
determined
surcharge,
9.
Please
-6-
during
processing
will be marked “Postage Due.”
confirm. that the recipient
during processing
to the proposed
of a letter-shaped
marked “Postage Due.”
should
nonmachinable
If you do not confirm, please explain.
to be subject to the proposed
not know that the surcharge
h.
to be subject
piece that is determined
nonmachinable
surcharge
be paid if the letter-shaped
will
piece is not
If you do not confirm, please explain.
Please confirm that the Postal Service will not be able to collect the proposed
nonmachinable
determined
surcharge
from the recipient
during processing
piece is not marked “Postage
describe
of a letter-shaped
to be subject to the surcharge
Due.”
piece that is
if the letter-shaped
If you do not confirm, please explain and
the method by which the proposed
nonmachinable
surcharge
will be
collected.
i.
Please confirm that the mailer of a letter-shaped
processing
to be subject to the proposed
informed that the surcharge
piece that is determined
nonmachinable
surcharge
during
will not be
should be paid. If you do not confirm, please explain
and describe the method by which the mailer will be informed.
j.
Please confirm that the Postal Service will not be able to collect the proposed
nonmachinable
determined
confirm,
surcharge
from the mailer
during processing
please
nonmachinable
explain
and
of a letter-shaped
piece
that
is
to be subject to the surcharge.
If you do not
describe
the
surcharge will be collected.
the
method
by which
proposed
” ‘YE S&NT 838
Post Offic<told us qualify for overnight service
(about four out of five of
the addressesin OUTtest).
And although the Post
Office calls its Priority
Mail a two- to three-day
service, ia adscompare,it
with the other two-day services. So
did we. (For more on Post Office
clabns,see“AFederal Case,” page IS.)
We also assessedhow gentle the
couriers are: Inside each package,we
placed sensorsthawhange color when
subjected to a sizable jolt (see the
photo on page 16). The results are
detailed in the Ratings on page 16.
Anq-Lg OUTfindings:
l .Air delivery by the private cquien was ori time most often. About 97
percent of FedEu’s packagesarrived
on t$ne, wigb UPS noi far behind.
. Oq &ice, Fe& ZDay, roughed
yq+x$fages much nmr~ *ti$yn,
- .- ^
CnMF: VANISHED.
I.
ed troops; air forces;
_. ehicles~darkenedmoms
;e logistics experts huddle
b&
of -&mpu&,
devising
strategies to cope w&h balky jets or
surprise storms. . Packagedelivery is
war-or at least pretty serious stuff,
especially at holiday time.
Three g&a-Federal
Express,
United Parcel Service, and the Post
office (officially, the U.S. postal Service&compete in the $70 billion
businessof moving “expedited cargo”:
~parcelsand papers that must arrive
I‘
delivery (Fed&
im ground service)..
word about the Post
“bffice: It says Erprm
Md will mive overnight
v&&g&d
&hgei
to +e:reci&
ai~before~ Chii+m
Day. Most
made it on time, but ,therc were diferenc~ among shippers and services.
&&@ht:&.
,Did the parcel sent
oyeniight’really anivi tie next day?
They ,did for 97 ,perceiit :of Fe&x
packages’~d w.percent of UPS packages..‘ThePast Office lagged far bebind: ~s’Erprmi%fail @&ages arrived
overnight to guaranteed destinations
nnly abow 65 percent of the time.
ErpreaMail does have one advantage,
though-it’s
delivered 365~ days a
year. Overnight competitors ,dehver
on Saturday, but onli if +u.pay extra.
Second-day air. Cheaper than overnight~and’faster than ground delivery
over long distances, this can be a good
comproniise. FedEx led the pa& with
97 percent oh-time petfornunce vs.
90 percent for WS. Each company
actually delivered,about 12 percent of
its semtid-day boxes overnight
Posto@ Pfimi?=yMail costs far less
than &e others-43 to send a twopound box coast to coast,with no exttra charge for Saturdays, vs. at least
$10. Its business grew 15 percent this
year, perhaps a legacy of last y&s
strike against UPS. me strike was
settled well before our tests.) However, only’ 60 percent of all packages
sent via F’riwity Mail got to recipients
in two days; for the longest distances,
the figure dipped to 35 percent.
Ground service. All but a dozen or
so of the more than 200 boxes stit via
ground,artived by Cibhmas Eve. UPS
Grw$ is a slightly better bet than
Pa-I oJ$e Pad Part 78 percent of
UPS packages arrived by their due
~date(one to seven days after.sbi~ping,
depending on zip code),vs. 73 percent
fort& Post Office (two w&days,
depending on zip code). But the Post
office is apt to charge a few dollarr
Speedy shipping is no adtitage’if
,-en., we ask+. I$&
feccmdy
about any differaices in h&nil&g secthe crystal vase ypu send Aunt Tillie
arrives in pieces. Careful packing iS and-day sbipn++, a spOkeswoman
key because shipping can. be rough.
said all packags~are t&cd equally,
and that F&x won’t rele+;,~y data
(See “Howto
Pack Like the pros,”
be&w.) On tows ofPost Office, UPS,
09 compla+s related ” rough hatand Fe@ facilities, OUTreportei saw dling. Earlier, a yqany ~ecutivehad
many boxes that were dented, bashed, told us that &dL%r 2Day: shi&nena
~engashed.
travebn a different smea”i frd? overTo see whether one method of ,night parcels and mai be micked farther. Such boxes move ,tiugb
the
travel- was gentlei than another, we
placed shock sensors inside each parsor+g hub during thk daysand are
cel. If a box the size and weight of our
handled by different staffers. And, of
test parcel--and packed like ours, in: course, second-day parcels stay in the
bubble wrap, cardboard, and a cormFedF.x system twice as long, as overgated box-is dropped from a height
night shipments, with greater potential for damage.
of seven feet or more, or subjected to
similar forces, the sensory change
Whatever +e, carrier, do& it,paym
mark boxes “Fragile-&wlle
with
from dear to red. A similar fall would
be likely to crack a glass plate surCare”? Nope. We plastered that I&~‘~
rounded by one layer of bubble wrap
on almost 100 parcels, and it helped
and pa&d in a corrugated box.
not one whit: SNXS in “Fragile”
I” all three service categories we
boxes were aslikely m be activated ti
looked at, the Post Office proved
those in identical. packages without
gentlest. Qn the other hand, FedEx
,
the label setit 8” the same time by the
.
fe” down on the Job. At least same service. l’utting ‘the, address
the Steuben glass company shipped via
FedEx-ame
costing $1,000-plus-there
were just four reports of damage, says
Kathi Ed&on, a company spokeswoman.
Clwly, Steuben’s employees know how
L-->d:-*^
.._I II L_.-.---...
I” ^__I_
WlcKd“\I-..
I vu cull
rtavt: I”” mum pauu,ng
or bubble&rap.” Ed&on says. Sometimes
thecompanyusescustom-moldedfoam
that hugs a piece’s contours. or nestles one
box within &other, surrounding the &maller
boxwith cushioning.~
Here we tips that should help your
packages arrive intact:
*Wrap breakable items individually,
in several layers of bubble wrap.
-
-I
e
.A’
There.are 38;OOOpost offices, far
“lore than the locations pnvate cmuiers opetite, @mselw.~ But @iwe
coqiqs aJ.qoffer drop.boxes (mainly
for businwx *th accounr~) and are
aflgiqd wi& thou.y& of outleb that
takeparcdymme Kink& copy shops,
for example, aswell asshipping stores.
Our senders drove some packages
to the c&tier’s cmmer, took some to
shipping stores, and called courien to
pick up some at home. (Couriers’ tollfree lines and web sites,which offer extensive information on drop-off locations, daily deadlines, ape&d transit
times, and cost, are listed on page 16.)
Counter sexvice. Goiig suaight to
the courier is the least expensive way
to get a box into its system. On balatice,~atleast two-thirds of our senden judged each courier’s operation
very efficient, and four out of five described employees as very courteous.
At FedEx and UPS, most senders.
?pans, like the stem
of a vase, with an extra “collar.”
. Use corrugated cardboard boxes that
are new; boxes lose strength every time
they’re shipped. Layer at least two inches
of cushiotiing material at the top, sides,
-~~~*a~~_..-,ano
oonom.
*To keep items from shifting, fill spaces
generously with foam peanuts, crumpled
newsrwint. or small “lobs” of rolled-LID
bubble wrap. If you:c&et
softfoam’
blocks a&to fit around the item, use those.
To avoid adding such packing materials to
landfills, reusethem whenever you c+n. A
spokeswoman for Mail Boxes Etc. told us
that its stores run a post-holiday recycling
program for foam peanuts.
-Tape all seams and flaps with’packmg tape at least two inches wide. Regular cellophane~or masking tapes aren’t
strong enough.Avoid brown paper,
which tears, and string, which snags.
-~Address the package clearly. or use
the courieh label.Tha recioient’s zin
code and phone number are crucial:
qut an extra label inside, in case the
one on the ba~becomes unreadable.
ce-sw~lvstores. shirmina stores. ‘:
An htkmtinfl option The Xpander
Pak,soIdinStom andsomepxt
ofices, is II Aatplasticpouch whose
sides hold cmnpmsed, wcuum-packed
pobunfhane. You insertthe item
gou’resotding (such as -thr.- cm
__ n~~xrl.
-- -_ _ ,
seal the imuch. thenoun !ctun ik skin.
omsidem
‘(1point, HIe +%#i+lili.i
ATTACHMENT1
Page
Federal Express handles 3 miU@ shipments on~atypical day, UPS 12 @on, and the
Post Office more than 600 million. mat doesic take to move your mail? Our reporta
checked~firsthand.
t&n &fo<~@sse”ger &lines did. S&e
150 FedE? jets land here’eirery night.
Each package goes from ,&e jet to a con+eyor belt, passing under a s,+ner that
reads the bar code affixed when it began
its journey. The scanner tigers “diverters,” mechanical arms that posh the package in the right direction. Another machine weighs and measures the package
-and sends .out a corrected bill, if the
sender has miscalculated the weight
In a few hours, 9,000 night workers have
filled cargo catdiners for outbound tlighm
Television monitors everyivhere remindof
“u&h
time,” when the job of sorting
packagestid reloading outbound planes
absolutely, positively has to be done.
uPslemdlud, New Yolmty
UPS once prided itself on its low-tech,
commonsense approach. But now every
driver has a “delively-information acqoisidon device,” which a manager likens to
a computerized Etch-A-Sketch toy. It
has a built-in scarer to track bar codes,
a ceUu@ transmitter to send data via
satellite, a keyboaid to input names and
tignres, and a presswe-sensitive writing area to capture, the signature .of
package recipients-all
to aid in
tracking packages.
Ups is also proud of its logistics.
When oiu reporter mentions ‘that
UPS has recently delivered the componenm of his new computer, in Epame boxes, at the samedme, a UPS
manager notes that cheboxes probably cane Erom different cities but arrived together because of a “dock
merge” involving careful thing and
coordiiatio” by ups perso”“el.
At its Washington, D.C., headquarters,
the Post office has a room with giant “laps
to track weather, video screens~tofollow
flights, and sophisticated computer workstations. But ata.bulk- and general-mail
facility i few rmles away, procedures seem
low-tech indeed: Huge pucks dump all
so* of mail onto conveyers surrounded
by catwalks.
The Post Of&e does we bar codes to
sack Erpren Mati but the tnddng system
can be slow The computer “lay not reveal
that your packagehas been delivered until
the carrier remms to the statioxiand logs
in the delivery. That may be hours after
the recipient has signed for it
The sorting of Pritity Mail is only
seiniautomated. “Keyers” stop the conveyer mdmentarily to read and punch in
each parcel’s zip code. A bar-coded sticker is printed and affiued, and the package
is sent on it5 way. So&g equipment will
read the code to posh the packageinto the
correct bin. Accuracy is crucial: If a keyer
enters 49102 instead of 94102, say, the
Priority &hi! package you want to go to
San Francisco will wind up in Berrie”
Center, Mich.
3 of
5
waited only two minutes for s.&ce;
at thePostOffice, nmstw&edatleast
five minutesand one steadfast individual waited an hour and a half.
At-home pickup. Each carrier has
its own rules:
l FedEx charges $3 per box for a
pickop and takes credit cards, checks,
and, in some places, exact cash.
l UT’S charges a premium of between 50 cents and $2.50 per box, depending on weight and destinadon.
You must pay by check
l The Post Office will pick up any
number of packagesfor $4.95, paid by
check, You must have postage at&d.
Any of the couriers may come the
day you call, if you’ve called early
enough, but it’s safer to call a day before. You may not be told just when
the driver will arrive--or you may be
given a window of two or three hours.
Weigh and measwe the package before calling, and ask that the driver
bring necessaryforms and labels.
shipping stores. They off.%variow
mailing options, sell wapping materials, and will pack for you. But convenience costs. Our senders who used
stores sometimes paid double a comier’s rates. A Pak ‘N Mail in Houston,
for instance, charged one shopper
$17.27 to ship an already-wrapped test
box to Fort Worth via UPS 2nd Day
Air; UPS charges$9.50 for that service
if you deal with it directly. Before you
go to a shipping store, contact the
courier to,detennine the basiccost to
send your packagedirectly.
If you do “se a shipping store and
yOUrpdiSdamagedO~lOS,thMtDR
may help you file a claim. Some stores
take responsibility for damage if their
workers packed; some have you sign a
release relieving them of liability if
you packed. I” any case,you can file a
claim against the carrier.
Cbqw on the hego
Each FedExjet landing
atMemphblnkmatiiona~Aipvtcm+es
a” cwmge of 30 cmdalnon ofpachnges
(almce),which are unlwdedin 20 to 30
minuks andso&dfaroutboundflighk.
Flight m&mllem, metmmlogisk, and
hgktics expefk supportthe opendion
iSmnthenea&F&C~tkns
Commandand Conbol Canter (I&),
ccrlleduthe
bunker.”
Howeasytorfwehfe?
We had our packagessent to people’s homes (only the Post Office will
deliver to a P.O. ha& and most recipients were home to receive them.
Companies vary on the number of delivery tries they’ll make when the recipient is out, and on whether they’ll
leave packageson the doorstep. Often,
drivers can decide. When couriers
can’t tind you, they’ll generalty leave a
note detailing the attempted delivery
and asking you to reschedule-or
telling you when they’ll try again.
Whe”yo”caUback,yoomaybegiven
the option of retrieving your package
from the terminal. You can also ask if
the shipper is willing to reroute ‘the
parcel to your office.
Although FedEx was most likely to
hand packagesto the recipient, it did
leave about 8 percent of them unsigned for and unattended. (Its standard airbill says the recipient muSt
sign for the delivery unless the sender
has checked a box waiving a signature.
Our packageshad no such waivers.)
other caltiers also seemto relax the
r&s at this time of year, which may
not be a good idea. When we sent
packing material to a test participant
in Ohio, for example, UPS left ow box
on his back porch, which he seldom
uses. The box was soaked by the time
he came acrossit dayslater.
How do they handle problems?
t
?
There are a few procedures to know
about if delivery doesn’t go smoothly:
Guarantees. The private air courien offer a money-back guarantee if
they don’t deliver on time. The Post
Office has a similar guarantee for EtprmMai1 to most of the U.S. (contact
the local post office or call 800 2221811 to seewhether your destination
is included and to determine the
drop-off deadline). Weather-related
delays void guarantees.Generally, the
sender applies for the refund.
Last spring, UPS began to guarantee on-time delivay for its ground
service, but only to businesses. Consumersqualify if they send packagesto
the recipient’s workplace, and they’ll
get commercial UPS Gmund rates: $1
less per packagethan to a residence.
Missing packages, tradring. Eight
of our 838 boxes “ever showed up.
Three of the lost boxes were carried
by the Post Office, five by UPS (and
three of those stated their journey at
a shipping store).
With parcels sent via FedEx, UPS,
or Post Ofice Expr-m Mail, you get a
tracking number that matches the bar
code on the label: You can phone the
courier or “se its web site for information on your parcel’s whereabouts.
With Post Ojice Priolily~ Mail and
Parcel Post, there is no record. The
U.S. Postal service pro”lises computerized “delivery confim~adon” for
those two sometime in 1999. Until
then, if a Prim-&y or PamI Pm package is lost, it’s lost. But insuing whatever you send via those services forces
the Post Office to keep a record you’ll
pay $1.60 for $100 of coverage).
I”.sura”ce. shippers were reluctant
!
i
-,-,/~--
-,-., -..J- ,,.. _
9: PodOffice dklivers qh Saturday&d-~
bnpgs Express f&if Sund&s and holidays.
too, at no e&a c&t; FedEk and UPS charge
extra for S&days
and don’t ordinarily
counfweekends in transit time. IA two-day
parcel shipped via FedEx on Thursday, say.
will normally arrivetwo business days later,
on Monday.)
The Post Office bases rates for Express
Mail solely on a package’s weight; for the.
other services, all three carriers take weight
and distance into account. There can be surcharges for extremely large or heavy boxes.
Here’s what you’d pay at a courier’s counter to ship a three-pound, shoebox-sized
parcel the 2,544 miles from Portland, Ore., to
Portland, Maine. We list the eight services
tested in our package race (in colod, plus
12.25 2dqs~sedefday
other options. Note that U.S. Postal Service 2ndDayAir
9.46 3 daysiq endofday
rates will rise slightly in mid-January; others 3 Gayselect
Gmend
Residential
6.43
6 buslnessdq-s
may follow suit.
A federal case
Fe&x sues the Post Oflce
l” 1997 the U.S. Postal Service spent
$266 million on advatisiig. One ad in its
“What’s Your Priority?” campaign says
you can send a two-day parcel with Federa1Express for about 512, with UPS for
about $6-a via Pritity Mail, in two to
threedays, forjust$3. “Sc+lZ, 6,3?“the
announcer asks.“What’s your priority?”
The advertising won a” award, but
Fed& is not impressed. David B. Shoenfeld, the firm’s senior vice president for
worldwide marketing, told us that likening primity Mail to Fed.%2Day service is
“comparing a Trailways bus ticket to an
airline ticket.” The Post Office doesn’t
guarantee delivery eve” in three days, he
noted, and parcels aren’t tracked with bar
codes. So FedEx has made,well, a federal
case o”t of the commercials, suing the
Post Office for false advertising-and
seeking corrective ads,triple damagesfor
business lost, and compensation for harm
to its goodwill and reputation. At press
time, a trial date was still to be set.
The lawsuit underscores a grab bag of
gripes that the private couriers have been
harboring. Both FedEx and UPS point
o”t that the Post office, a self-suppolling
federal agency, pays no vehicle registrations, parking tickets, or taxes, asthey do.
And they claim it can undercut their shipping ratesbecauseit subsidize its packagedelivery business with money from firstclass mail, on which it has a monopoly.
That would be illegal, counters Postal
Service spokesman Barry Ziehl, who says
the Post Office “hasn’t taken a dollar of
taxpayer money” in more than 20 years.
A bill being considered by Congress,
H.R. 22, would give a little to each side.
The Post Office would get streamlined
rate-setting procedures and a chance to
give individual companies special discounts. On the other hand, it would be
forced to split its noncompetitive b&es
(basically first-class mail) from its competitive businesses (package and urgentdocument delivery), which would have to
keep separaterecords and cover their own
costs. The bill is now in a subcommittee.
A!ll!ACHMEKr 1
Page 5 of 5
to talk t” us about loss and damage
rates. If you receive a damaged package, note that fact on any paperwork
before you accept it. Keep the packing
material; it’s needed for a claim.
FedEx and UPS rates include 5100
of coverage against loss or damage,
and,Pan@ice &&j&s Mail comet +h
$500 of insurance. All three couriers
sell extra coverage at nominal c”st,
but don’t be tempted to overinsure: If
you file a claim, you’ll be askedfor receipts. For used items, you’ll likely recover the depreciated value, not the
replacement value.
RecommandaUons
Snug as a bug?Each of our sir-pound test bares
hehio rem ofpaper, m&din cmiboardond
bubbh map, ahmg with serum that turn red (see
cIoseups abomt when a p+ge’is hondkdrvughlg.
The roughest ride: FedEx.&Wag.At least one sensor
ms tiggmd in one-third of its pockages.
In mid-December 1997.Cotiol
REWRTS
shopperssenttestparcelst one another-+oughly 1W
boxssforeachselvicelisted.ln~e wsrallscore.
on-timedervery is weighted more heaviiydmn our
rough-handlingstandard.Services wim tie same
overall score are listed alphabetically. Cast gives
tie range each carder would charge to send our
six-pound box wfthin the lower 48 states as of
September 1998.(Thalwend isthe costm send
wimin a single zip cbde;dw hiah end, the cost to
send long distanc~pecificaliy, from Key West
Ra., to Seattle.1WsLe eliminated higher rates
In a r”sh? Federal Express has the
most reliably on-time overnight and
second-day air service.(Note, though,
that in October, the leaders of ia pilotsunion voted t” seek strike authorization from members, which could
mea” a walkout during the holiday
Nsh. Balloting of members was due
t” be completed by late November.)
Though fast, FedEx was rough with
chargedbyshippingstorasCosth/picalfqincludes
maabilitVtotraceapackagea”dSlOOofcoverage
against loss or damage (Fxpress &fai/.ipclqd$3
S5C4of coverage). Ontime indicates the’parcentage of packages that met the cardeh stated M
impliedtime commibnent PosfMr7c&pressMaiI
claims ovemighi delivery to most of the U.S.;We
judgedhasanavamightselvicafortestpackages
sent to qualifying chfei(four$ifths of ourdasdnations qualifiad).We rated Post Mfcs PrhffyMai/
against the two-day delivery himplies in advertising. Note that the Post Oftice delivers free on
second-day packages.If you use Fe&
ZDay. pack very well. UPS Neti Day
and 2nd Day were slightly slower but
gender. Even UPS Groundwas able to
get smne shorn-distance boxes to their
destinations in one business day.
The’Post Office’s air-setice rates
are attractive, but if you send gifts a
day or two before the holidays, don’t
count on Eqwm Mail or Prior@ Mail
to deliver them in time.
Have plenty of time? If you can
send packages at least seven business
days ahead, try ground shipping. It
costs much less than overnight air
service. Pm Ofice Parcel Pm is eve”
cheaper than UPS Ground, but UPS
track packages and so provides a
record for those that “ever arrive.
Another option, especially for long
d&n&s, is PostO@ Priwity Mail. It
may not be great as a second-day service, but it’s apt to be faster than ParceIPastand may cw jwt slightly more.
Have a fragile package? For each
of the services we tested, the Post
office was gentlest.
@
Saturday;meomercanien’chaqee~.W~rated
grandservices againstmeirguidelinefordelivsly
todifferentdpcodesThePostOfficsusuaRyallows
beffa dayortwo morethtin doesUPS.Rarghha&
dlingnotesmepercentageofpackagesinwhichat
leasl one of our jolt-deticting sensofs was a&
vated.ThattakesaforceequEvalentmaseven-fon
drop.Cwmwntsli~no~al delivery days.
Plume numbers a#d web addresses
FederalExpress:6fv.lGo Fad& hik.fed&&
UPS:E&l PickUPS; wwwopscom.
~0stornce:8~~-i~ti;~“~p~.g~~.
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participants
OF SERVICE
certify that I have this date served the foregoing
of record in this proceeding
practice.
Washington, D.C. 20268~0001
October II,2001
in accordance
document
upon all
with Rule 12 of the rules of